Double Take slammed for “After School You Die” sketch
Updated: "Satire draws attention to serious matters through humour," says producer after criticism over a bullying sketch.
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Seven’s Double Take sketch comedy has come under fire following a sketch last night on schoolyard bullying.
The sketch was presented as an advertisement for a fictional private school ‘St. Fillimore’s.’
A presenter, or possibly principal, boasted the school had “the best bullies money can buy.”
Whilst various scenes showed kids pulling pranks on one another, one scene depicted a laptop screen with the message “After School You Die” being sent between students.
“With every one of our bullies supplied with their own broadband account, cyber-bullying is no longer just a dream but an appalling everyday reality,” the presenter added.
“Here at St Fillimore’s our school bullies have gone on to successful careers as CEOs, professional football players and chief parking inspectors.
“While our victims have mostly gone on to top themselves.”
The sketch comes hot on the heels of 60 Minutes being forced to withhold a story on teenage suicide following concern over deaths in the wider community. Nine says the report has the co-operation of family members involved in the story.
Psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg said Double Take should issue a public apology.
“These people have obviously been to the Chaser’s War on Everything school of comedy,” he said. “I think Australians are getting sick and tired of comedians making jokes about things that are really not funny.”
The Chaser recently apologised for its “Make a Realistic Wish” sketch and saw the ABC suspend the show for two episodes whilst stripping an ABC executive of key duties.
UPDATED: David McDonald, Double Take creator and EP responded this afternoon saying, “As it happens, this particular sketch was written and filmed very early in the production schedule.
“It was not produced and aired in reaction to recent events, but written to highlight the serious nature of bullying.”
“Satire draws attention to serious matters through humour. On Double Take, social issues are often discussed, not to make light of them but draw attention to them. If the consequence of a particular sketch is community discussion then this can be a positive thing.”
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Source: news.com.au
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- Tagged with 60 Minutes, Double Take, The Chaser’s War on Everything
52 Responses
My first reaction on seeing the sketch was that they were desperate for publicity. My thoughts then went to the EP’s Father, Gary McDonald. Wonder what his take on this is given his well documented battles with the black dog.
I admit a double dose of comedy on a Thursday Night is much lighter than a full on Medical Drama but why not something decent that makes people laugh like a real life sitcom.The days of Your Comedy Company or Benny Hill are long over.
This show is hilarious to me, but not to everyone and that’s fair – like the skits on the show. This particular sketch offened some extremely touchy aussies who really need to wake up – this is draw attention to bullying, not defend or encourage it! And “Nathan from The Extra Source”, the actors on this show are awesome, i’d like to see you do something like this with this amount of awesome comic timing – especially that bullied boy – he’s hilarious!
Regulate social networking shows and not crappy skit shows.
Leave The Chaser out of this!
Utterly, utterly offensive- offensive to decent, hard working school bullies the country over who deserve at least to be satirized in (and here’s a novel idea)- a funny sketch! One would do a double take when presented with a script for this show- ‘oh my god is it really that bad!? (double take)… oh yes, it is (frown)’. Heaven forbid anything resembling comedy should grace our screens at any stage during proceedings.
It’s quite amusing that the bully sketch is attracting ire, yet the program seems to take great glee in ‘poof jokes’- surely a taboo since the likes of the late, great Benny Hill passed on. Double Take makes TV Burp look like a monumental work of genius (no mean feat).
I don’t think this sketch is that bad – it is satirical, so shouldn’t be taken to be offensive. That said, the show Double Take as whole is stupid and should be taken off air. THe cast are just not funny and the writing isn’t good enough to sustain interest. I love to watch Aussie sketch shows, but not this one!
Carr-Gregg should get a sense of humour. Didn’t see it, don’t watch the show, what I’ve seen I’ve mostly despised (most of what I’ve seen of it has been the mass TV show parody easy-money comedy they seem to mostly do) – but come on, bleeding hearts. This is comedy.
And I’d just like to reiterate that I didn’t find the Chaser sketch the slightest bit “offensive” either. Much to the disgust of pretty much everyone I know, who seem to have been told it was bad by the media and obeyed.
It should be axed for being a terrible show but it is amazing how sensitive people have become. I can understand the Kyle and Jackie O thing as that’s a real person, if this was a U.S or U.K show being shown here then it wouldn’t get a mention. Let’s be honest they wont move the show because a)they need the drama points and b) commercial networks aren’t as timid and reactionary as the ABC.
Could this controversy combined with awful ratings spell the end for Double Take?
Those Gary Unmarried ads said ‘coming soon’ didn’t they? How soon I wonder…….
I tried to watch the show..once, about 10 minutes was all I could stand!
The sooner this rubbish is off air the better!
First it offended by just being a really s**t show. Now they have gone too far. Hopefully their rating go down as the amount of talent these people have.
So Tasmanian Devil, you actually think that networks should refrain from airing potentially controversial content for fear of upsetting paranoid individuals who are incapable of comprehending satire? If we give ground to every obsessive special interest group then comedians will not be able to tackle any real world issue in a satirical manner. Considering we are already at the stage where a comedian is forced to apologise for making a joke about hepatitis, do you really want to make this situation even worse?
Your country appears to be full of stupid hillbillies incapable of decoding social satire. Prove me wrong.
Oh boy, I saw this coming when I watched the skit.
Sure it was a shock laugh but it was still a good laugh. I enjoyed it for its distastefulness, that was part of the gag.
So will ratings go up or down in light of this ‘scandal’? Seven will be hoping for the former but in light of the show’s obvious and much-maligned “crapness” (although as yet I haven’t seen the show in full), it’ll probably go down.
I think it’s not so much that the skit was not funny but that it was in bad taste. Still, I have to agree with Matt and Bueller but I think they shouldn’t have aired the skit because people are so paranoid that they can’t accept what the point was. It would have saved all this trouble, didn’t they learn anything from the Chaser?
That sketch actually sounds like it would have been quite funny, compared to the other content I’ve seen from the show (endless parodies of media personalities = meh).
Michael Carr Gregg is nothing more than your regular nutter using his qualifications as a convenient excuse to push his anti-everything agenda. All he ever does is cash in on the latest moral panic the tabloid media has succeeded in whipping up – be it one concerning sex, drugs, violence, alcohol or scary new technology – you name it, and he’s there trying to make money out of it. Which begs the question – is he really so thick-headed that he can’t identify the clear satirical nature of this sketch, or is he just fueling the flames to advance his own agenda?
As someone below said – if it offends you, don’t watch. Not one single person is being forced to watch any of these shows.
And really – I think most of you need to grow a pair, or at least a thicker skin.
I’d say this only made the headlines because of the Chaser’s Realistic Wish sketch. And the Chaser sketch only made the headlines because it was the Chaser. People seriously need to harden the fudge up.
It just goes to show what sick minds the producers and writers of this show have. They obviously dont have children going to school and perhaps they should never have children, given that they may wind up being like their parents with sick and warped minds.
Channel 7 you are better than that, get these creeps of the air for good.
Geoff.
channel 7…hang your head in shame!!
like i said a while back…seven is on the way down from the top!!
If its offensive, dont watch. simple as that. I was never a huge fan of the Chasers, but did get a few laughs occassionally. This last series was very lame and after the Make a Wish sketch I tuned out, not because the media made a huge thing about it, I just found it in really poor taste as it aired and gave up.
I dont really think we need psychologists telling us what is or isnt offensive to the mass public. Surely people can work that out for themselves. Didnt see the show but from the article above it sounded more satirical than offensive. Probably pretty crap, from what Ive seen of this show its not that good, but it looked like it was trying to poke fun at the situation of bullying, not suicide.
“Double take” and “sketch comedy” don’t belong in the same sentence unless there’s a “is not an example of good” between them. Fact.
I usually don’t watch … and this was the point where I decided they were complete idiots and switched off … now i know why I don’t watch …
Jack!
This show should be Axed!! It’s a terrible show…No one likes it. The talent on the show are untalented and Seven could spend their money in a better way.
What a bunch of sickos showing a bullying skit!
Im disgusted!